doing stuff that people have told me won't work. that now i'm pretty good at ignore i ignoring they're telling me, that won't work. a lot of times if you just keep working at it. there will be a solution. solution. and by the way, everything is changing ever are i day. nobody can prove that something can't be done. it's impore to prove that isn't can't be done. they can give you an example of failure. but they can't show me right now with my new set of resources that just changed yesterday, that something can't be changed. every day you get a new tool set and the tool set changes faster every day that we're alive. so dell me it can't be done. >> jim mckelvey believes that every problem, no matter how big, can be solved with resistances, resolve and the right people. he has the vision to think big, the focus to think in detail and the determination to effect change. that's why we put him on "the

next list." i'm sanjay gupta, thanks for watching. hope to see you here next week. >> it's 2:00 p.m. in the east. if you are just tuning in, thank you very much for joining us. >> these are the top stories we're following right now in the cnn news room. we've learned that president obama will nominate chuck hagel to be defense secretary. that will happen tomorrow. the former senator from nebraska is a vietnam war hero, he served on capitol hill for a decade. but his confirmation process won't be smooth sailing. hagel angered some lawmakers for supports talks with hamas. and supporting sanctions on iran. >> this is an controversial pick, he's an an ta tag nistic figure when it comes to iran.

>> he would face tough questions about his opposition to the successful 2007 troop surge in iraq. it's been two days since his plane vanished and the fate of vittorio missoni is still unknown. his priest plane left venezuela on friday, but never made it to caracas. so far, search crews have not spotted any signs of a crash. the missoni fashion house is known for its line of high-end knit wear. now to syria where president bashar al assad made a rare speech and was in rare form today as he blasted the opposition and defiantly resisted international calls for him to step down. cnn's mohammed jamjun joins us from syria. this was his first speech since june. what was his message? >> his message was similar.

as rare as that has been in the past whenever he has spoken. he remains entrenched, defiant. he defied international calls for him to step down. he blamed what was happening in syria as a foreign conspiracy. called the opposition terrorists and traitors, and denied there was a revolution going on in syria. said it wasn't a fight between the government and the opposition, but rather a fight between sir yarks the holeland and its enemy. and here's what he had to say about that point. >> translator: this is a conflict between authority and power or between the enemies of the homeland. this is a conflict between those who wanted to take revenge against the people. to fragment syria. those are the enemies of the people. and the enemies of god. and the enemies of god will go

to hell. >> martin, this was a speech that was staged to look as though assad had a lot of support, it was at an opera house in damascus, you saw the crowd punctuating his remarks with cheering, chanting at times, with our hearts and souls we will sacrifice for you. towards the end of the speech, assad said he was offering an initiative for peace in syria. said there should be a referendum for a new constitution and an amnesty for prisoners. but he said he wouldn't negotiate with terrorists, that means that he won't negotiate with the majority of the opposition. mart snn. >> mohammed, this was a speech that had been highly anticipated by the international community and even a sense that there would be some major give on the part of the president, that didn't happen. what's the reaction from the international community and the opposition? >> well martin, the opposition said we expected them to say, they won't take part in any kind of a negotiation with a

government that has assad still in it. they said in order to start any kind of process, that assad must step down. we spoke to george subright, with the syrian national coalition, the opposition bloc. he told that assad repeated the same words and concepts from the past two years of the syrian revolution. unfortunately he didn't tell the truth about what happened in syria. who bombed the bakeries? who bombed the petrol stations. he said his government can deal with the political solution in syria. if this kind of government can deal with the political solution, why did he wait for two years to announce this solution? we also heard from british secretary william hague and he struck a note of skepticism in triter he so-called assad's speech hypocritical. death, violence and depression engulfing syria of his own making. this fools no one. this is very much like what we're hearing from the rest of the international community we must add one more thing. during his remarks, we heard from opposition activists that

shelling was still going on in various parts of syria. since then we've heard 55 people killed today in syria. and in the seven months since assad gave his last public remarks, tens of thousands of more syrians have died as a result of the conflict. >> with his speech, no indication the killing is going to come to an end. mohammed jamjoon thank you for joining us. egypt weighing in on the war in sirria wolf blitzer asked egyptian president, mohammed morsi what he thinks the next step should be when it comes to syria. here's part of the interview. >> translator: the syrian people with its revolution government, the bloodshed stud stop. they move to a new state. they have an independent parliament and government according to will and then they decide what they want it's the syrian people who should decide. >> watch the full interview on "the situation room" this week. and a tense situation today

along the india/pakistan border. at least one pakistani soldier has died in the conflict that's flared up in the kashmir region. i spoke to our produce anywhere pakistan earlier and she is saying that indian troops crossed into pakistani territory. >> as far as the pakistani military is concerned, they have reacted in the sense that they have obviously made this public. apparently according to a pakistani military official, the two countries have hot lines set up between them, that includes the military as well as the diplomatic officers and those conversations are expected to happen in the coming days. the indian defense ministry says pakistani troops opened fire first on indian posts in the indian-controlled part of kashmir. we know more now about the standoff yesterday at a home in aurora, colorado. two women and two men, including the alleged gunman died in the incident. police say a woman who escaped

from the house told them she had seen three bodies inside. authorities also tried to subdue the suspect with tear gas. ultimately he died in a shoot-out with police, aurora is where james holmes is said to have opened fire last summer in a movie theater, killing 12 people. and holmes is due in court tomorrow for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to try him for more than 150 crimes in that theater massacre. the charges include murder, attempted murder and weapons violations. prosecutors are set to call scores of witnesses, including shooting victims. holmes' attorneys are expected to argue that their client has diminished mental capacity. the hearing could last all week. for people with autism, trying to integrate into the working world can be a challenge. in a minute, we'll meet a man who is trying to create jobs that will help people do just that. we'll tell you why his mission is personal. also, mysterious cat wanders into a brazilian prison.

we'll tell you why that has prison officials worried. supply costs... down... ...and down. just use your maxperks card and get a case of x-9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp, and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections,

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first time he truly feels valued as an employee. >> that is what makes life valuable, to be needed. and if what you can do is appreciated, and if what seems to be a weakness is turned into

an asset. >> management at auti-con said some people with asbergers have a knack for finding flaws. the opener found the the company when his own son was diagnosed with asbergers. >> our guys have a lot of skills and in concentration, analytical, logical thinking and things like that. and we are sure about that industries, the i.t. industry will have benefits. >> but only about 15% are employed in the private sector according to the german government. that's largely because of their difficulties with social interactions. that's why auticon has job coaches to help employees with customer relations. something psychologists say is key trying to give asbe brperge.

>> they try to construct work conditions around it so that the autistic individuals can use their skills reducing social demands. >> the movie "rain man" the character skills are used to make lot of money gambling in las vegas. auticon's goals are more down to earth, making a difference in the lives of their workers. fred flaken, cnn. a version of that concept that began in europe has been brought to america, a minnesota foundation that's dedicated to finding work for people with autism. he's in minneapolis, tim, specialist is danish, right for the specialists, that's what i'm being told. i'm wondering how are you translating this concept here in the u.s. and what is the quote-unquote autism advantage?

>> well it's a great question, martin. we're translating the danish model to a capitalistic system here in the united states and the model is that we provide the supports that are necessary for these very bright individuals to get a job and keep a job. the advantages to autism are just as were described earlier. in the segment. the ability to process large amounts of information accurately, to do so in a short period of time and to do that repetitively. these are characteristics that are very much sought after in the high-tech and i.t. industries. >> i mean, it's a very exciting concept. i'm wondering what's your sales pitch to companies? i mean when you go to them, to try to explain the advantage? i mean what do you say and what's their reaction when it comes to employing people with

autism? >> that's a great question. the sales pitch is this -- are you looking for individuals who have these skills? when you have an unemployment rate in i.t. under 3%, the answer is always yes. don morton at microsoft in fargo, north dakota said that was a big challenge for them, finding individuals with these skills. and so we present them with the opportunity to bring these individuals in, to do this work, this very important work, software testing as an example. and we provide the supports for them. these individuals are our employees. so the employer or the contracting company isn't responsible for their employment. we are and since we understand autism, we understand both the benefits to it as well as the challenges. we're able to provide the

supports and the structure that are necessary for these individuals to be successful on the job site. >> this seems to have begun in europe and i'm wondering what inspired you to bring it over here in the first place. >> well it's a pretty good story. i was meeting with a potential client in california, oakley sunglasses and the vice president there heard i had a son with autism and he sent me an article from "wired" magazine that described specialistern. the internet great thing, if you want to track somebody down, you can. through the article, i was able to track down torkelson, who is the founder of specialistern. it was operating successfully in denmark. i got ahold of him and said we have to do this through the united states. and through salesmanship or

persistence, we were able to convince him to allow us to expand that company into the u.s. we're pretty excited. we're opening our first location in fargo, north dakota, here this spring. >> you should be excited, it's a wonderful thing. tim hanson, thanks very much, we enjoyed talking to you and we wish you every success with the program. thanks. >> every once in a while, there's a moment in sports that takes on a life of its own, the story behind this incredible shot coming up. ...and down. just use your maxperks card and get a case of x-9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax.

while you were sleeping, a tentative agreement was worked out between the national hockey league and its players association. it could have the players back on the ice in a matter of days. but both sides still have to ratify the ten-year deal. the players and owners agreed on a $60 million salary cap, revenue sharing and limits players' contracts to seven years, the agreement would end a 113-day lockout. some things in sports just can't be explained. only appreciated. >> to see one go in. that's a deep shot off the back side. nice save by three. oh!

my gosh, i don't believe that! >> gabrielle gary of the mccutcheon high mavericks chased down a loose ball in an effort to get it back into play. she hit a really an improbable three-pointer. she went on to hit six more legitimate three-pointers to lead her team to a win. gabrielle is now something of a celebrity in lafayette, indiana. good for her. then there's this, brazilian prison officials say they have foiled a bizarre jailbreak plot. prison guards became suspicious after they spotted an oddly-shaped cat entering the prison after they caught it they found it had a cell phone, drills, assorted batteries and two saws taped to its body. officials say they don't know who the cat was supposed to be helping. but it's probably the prisoner with all the cat chow in his cell. superstorm sandy is something that nobody wants to relive. and if an elaborate $20 billion

plan is put into effect. no one may ever have to. ...and down. just use your maxperks card and get a case of x-9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax.

president barack obama signed into law on sunday, a $9.7 superstorm sandy aid package. the clean-up from superstorm sandy labors on across the northeast. part of that include as plan to prevent the next flooding disaster. one idea? a $20 billion system of barriers, here's cnn's david mattingly. when superstorm sandy hit breezy point, new york, ocean waves crashed on to city streets and brought houses off their foundations.

the only option residents had was to head to higher ground. >> they were sitting ducks. there was nothing they could do except run. >> how high was the water right here? >> the water would be probably six feet above our heads. >> six feet? >> above our heads. 12 feet, say. >> malcolm bowlman is the an expert on the dangers of a storm surge hitting new york. surveying the damage, he reveals that everything we see left by superstorm sandy is a bitter contradiction. apparently inevitable, yet tragically preventible. >> how do you stop something like that? >> you can't stop it except if you're going to build some kind of regional protection system for metro new york. >> bowman leads the storm surge research group at long island's stoney brook university.

the group promotes a plan called the outer harbor gateway. an elaborate system of barriers and causeways that would virtually floodproof much of metro new york. all for billions less than the cost of the damage done by sandy. >> the barrier would cost about $13 billion. in addition, the sand berms on both sides on the sandy hook side and the far rockway side would need to be built up for another $5 billion. so for $20 billion, we could have complete protection for new york harbor, including the three major airports. >> a $20 billion project that would take decades to complete, compared to the $30-plus billion needed right now to fix new york's storm damage. it's hardly a radical idea. or a new one. similar barriers exist in stanford, connecticut and providence, rhode island, massive barriers are also in

operation in europe. >> people ask me, if the dutch can do it, if the russians can do it, why can't we? >> higher temperatures rising seas, global warming, they're all affecting weather systems around the globe. massive storms seem to be far less rare events. are we ready for what mother nature has in store? cnn presents the coming storms, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern.